New Trial Underway at University of Pittsburgh, UPMC

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 10, 2011 – Seven years after a motorcycle accident damaged his spinal cord and left him paralyzed, 30-year-old Tim Hemmes reached up to touch hands with his girlfriend in a painstaking and tender high-five.

Mr. Hemmes, of Evans City, Pa., is the first to participate in a new trial assessing whether the thoughts of a person with spinal cord injury can be used to control the movement of an external device, such as a computer cursor or a sophisticated prosthetic arm. The project, one of two brain-computer interface (BCI) studies underway at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, used a grid of electrodes placed on the surface of the brain to control the arm. Continue Reading »

In May 2011, UC Irvine opened the doors to the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, a 100,000 square foot facility that cost nearly $80 million to construct.

The center ushered in a new future for stem cell research. Being the first major stem cell research facility in Southern California, the scientists here at UC Irvine have already begun to prove the benefits of the research that they are doing here. Continue Reading »

Four scientists—and their star patient—received a 2011 PM Breakthrough Award for a new procedure that uses direct electrical stimulation to give spinal injury patients back some voluntary movement.

A hit-and-run accident in 2006 left Rob Summers paralyzed from the chest down, shattering the college baseball player’s Major League prospects. But his injury—and his athlete’s dedication—made him the ideal candidate for a one-of-a-kind experiment led by a scientific dream team. Continue Reading »